A Long-Awaited Wedding
by Emmaline93
Summary: McBreezy's LTM Fic Challenge - Gillian and Cal are getting married! This is my first fic so I'm really nervous. Hope you enjoy, reviews are welcome :)
1. Chapter 1

It's about a month after Claire's death, and The Lightman Group is busy as ever with cases. Emily had spent the previous week in Chicago with her mom. Cal had argued about the lengthy visit during a school week, but Zoe claimed it was all the time she'd have free to spend with her daughter for the next few months due to the pile of huge cases on her desk. Not wanting to argue further, and realizing that meant Emily would not be spending every other weekend out of town, he agreed. Emily had been able to get the week's homework from her teachers before she left the following Friday, promising to work on it while she was away. Now, 2 weeks later, Cal had work as usual, and Emily had a day off of school, so she tagged along to the office. As he stands in the doorway of his library and watches the two most important women in his life laugh and talk comfortably in Gillian's office, he begins to think back on that first night after Emily left.

◊◊◊FLASHBACK: 2 WEEKS EARLIER◊◊◊

Cal and Gillian are in his office talking, about what started out as the case they had just finished, but turned into Emily being gone and Cal left to fend for himself. Gillian is sitting in Cal's chair as if in her office, and he is slouching in the chair in front of his desk. Both are smiling and enjoying the moment of rest.

"So, a whole week without Em, what are you going to do?" Gillian leans forward resting her arms on the desk, her chin in her hand.

"Oi. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself, thank you very much." He sits straighter.

Gillian says under her breath, but loud enough for Cal to still hear, "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Now that hurts, Gill." feigning hurt. Gillian bursts into laughter at the sight of Cal attempting a pouty lip and puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry." Gillian tries to calm down, after a moment she succeeds. Cal smiles as he watches Gillian smile and laugh. It has been too long since he's seen her truly happy. Cal took this as his chance, but for fear of chickening out, he spoke in a bit of a rush.

"You could make it up to me by coming over for dinner."

Gillian leans forward on the desk again, and now gives Cal a look that says 'you think you're so cunning, but I'm on to you', "Just dinner and hanging out?"

Cal leans forward, leaving nothing but the desk between them, "Why do you assume that just 'cause it's me that I have ulterior motives?"

"Because I know you." Gillian raises a hand when she sees he takes a bit of offense, Cal backs down. "That being said, hanging out for dinner isn't out of the ordinary, but you are the type who doesn't like to be alone either."

"Maybe I just want to have a nice dinner at home with a beautiful woman..." Cal does his classic wiggle of his brows. "Who happens to be my best friend, of course."

Gillian is quite aside from offering the response, "Of course." Cal drops the act.

"Alright, I give up. Em and I were going to make these enchilada casserole things before she left, but her mum bought her ticket for an earlier flight so we didn't make 'em..." Gillian stays quiet so he continues. "Well, I was looking forward to it, but it's a lot of work for just one person, and I thought, you gotta eat too, so why don't you come join me?"

Cal waits a bit nervously as Gillian thinks about his offer. After what felt like forever, she slowly nodded, "Okay."

"Okay?"

Gillian nods in affirmation. "Yes... It sounds good. Should I bring anything?"

Cal, is a bit surprised, but relieved. "Uh, some wine might be nice."

"Okay." Gillian gets up and walks around the desk. Cal stands and watches as she walks to the door.

"7 good for you?"

Gillian stops at the doorway and turns to him, "Make it 6:30."

"I won't have dinner done by 6:30. I'll barely be getting started."

Gillian with a sweet smile, "I know. You said it was too much work for one person so I'll come early and help." She slips out the door. "See you at 6:30."

Cal is standing there with a loving grin on his face as he stares a moment longer at the spot where she was standing.

LATER THAT NIGHT

Cal is in the kitchen wearing his floral apron, the various ingredients for dinner spread across the island, while a pot of enchilada sauce and a pan of cooking oil heat up on the stove. A key can be heard in the kitchen door, and seconds later Gillian walks in, closing the door. Cal doesn't seem to notice her presence as he turns from cutting corn tortillas on the island to stirring the pot of sauce on the stove.

"It's not even 6:30, and you started without me?" Gillian goes to set her purse and cardigan in the dinning room. She walks back into the kitchen with a bottle of wine.

Cal turns the heat down on the sauce, turns and picks up the last of the cut tortillas and tosses them in the hot oil to fry up a bit. Gillian tries to slip by him while he's facing the stove, but he turns and they end up face to face only a few inches separating them.

"Oh," Gillian says in surprise and giggles slightly, both laugh, all while their eyes keep flicking from each other's eyes to lips.

"Sorry, darlin'. Just trying to get the tedious bits outta the way." Cal gives Gillian a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, his wandering gaze is anything but inconspicuous.

"Hmmm". Gillian knows Cal's started their game of flirting with the precious line they so carefully tiptoe, she more then he.

Cal looks down at the bottle of wine she's clutching to her chest. "What's that?"

Cal points to the bottle, Gillian looks down. "Wine."

Cal backs up, turns to the frying pan, "Shall we crack it open?" he takes the tortillas out, puts them on the plate which already has a decent pile of finished tortillas and turns off the heat on the pan. Cal returns to the island and starts cutting half an onion.

"Absolutely." Gillian goes to the cabinet and gets down two wine glasses. She goes to the opposite side of the island and sets the glasses and bottle down. She realizes the bottle opener is in the drawer that Cal is blocking. "Uh, Cal?"

Cal has one eye closed and the other barely open, as his eyes starts watering. "Yea?"

"Would you mind handing me the bottle opener?"

Wiping his watery eyes with his shoulder, "Love to, darlin', but I can't see too well, and the sooner I get this onion chopped the sooner I can stop looking like a crybaby. Come get it, I'll scoot." Cal backs away from the drawer but keeps chopping the onion.

Gillian goes to the other side of the island and pulls the drawer open, she grabs the bottle opener and closes the drawer. Cal steps back forward. Gillian sets the opener on the island beside the bottle of wine, and gets a paper towel to dampen for Cal. She wrings out the excess water and holds the damp towel to Cal's eyes, he stops cutting and sighs in relief and gratitude. "You have no idea how good that feels."

Gillian laughs, "I'm sure I have some idea. You almost done?"

Cal hasn't moved, and Gillian is still holding the towel to his eyes. "Yea, does that look like enough onions?"

"I think that's plenty."

"Good. I don't think I could last much longer." The both laugh as Gillian helps guide Cal to the sink. She takes the towel from his face, as he washes his hands, Gillian dampens another towel. Once his hands are dried, Cal grabs the second towel and holds it to his eyes to sooth the burning. Jolting up, Cal lowers the towel. "The sauce."

Gillian stops him and checks the sauce, giving it a good stir. "It's fine. Can we make dinner now? I'm famished."

"Alright, antsy, grab the ramekins from the cupboard." Gillian does, and Cal grabs the plate of tortilla bits from beside the stove and puts it on the island with the other ingredients. Gillian sets two ramekins on the island. "Better grab a couple more, we have enough to make for leftovers." Gillian nods and grabs three more, just in case.

Gillian is all smiles as she clasps her hands together in anticipation, "What goes first?"

"Tortillas," Cal starts demonstrating as he explains, "you gotta make a nice little layer of the pieces." Gillian watches as he layers the pieces, covering the bottom of the ramekin, she does the same. Cal looks over her shoulder. Gillian notices his hovering.

Giving him a playful shove, "Do you mind? I'm trying to work here."

"Just checking is all."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do, love. Absolutely."

"Then continue. Next?"

"Right. Sauce." Cal steps over to the pot of enchilada sauce, ramekin in hand, and pours in enough sauce to cover the tortillas. Gillian pours sauce in her ramekin too, and they return to the island. "Now just add whatever ingredients you fancy to make up a layer, and repeat til the ramekin's full."

Cal and Gillian start grabbing toppings, cheese, olives, onions, and some shredded chicken, Gillian watches as Cal adds another layer of tortillas and sauce before adding all the toppings again. They continue in comfortable silence, not feeling obligated to speak. Once they finished with all five ramekins, they put the completed dishes in the oven to finish.

"I think I'm ready for that drink now." Gillian says as she reaches for the bottle of wine and opener. She hands them both to Cal. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"Don't mind if I do." Cal takes the items and makes quick work of opening the bottle, as Gillian sets the glasses in front of him so he can pour. Once opened, Cal pours wine into both glasses and sets the bottle aside. He picks both glasses up and hands one to Gillian, which she takes with a sweet smile. "I'm glad you decided to come."

"So am I." They clink their glasses and take a drink.

They continued a casual conversation while they ate, mostly about work and Emily. After they finished eating and cleaned up, Cal suggested they go to the living room to watch a movie, and agreed to letting Gillian pick under the condition 'nothin' too mushy'. Gillian agreed, took their glasses and the bottle of wine to the living room and picked a movie. Cal went upstairs to change his shirt after dripping some sauce on it while eating dinner. When he returned, Gillian was standing by the TV holding two movies trying to decide which to watch. Cal walks over, stands behind her, and looks over her shoulder.

"Which one?" Gillian says as she holds the cases a little higher for Cal to see.

"You picked like _the_ sappiest films in the house."

"Don't complain. I could have picked 'Valentine's Day', 'Dirty Dancing', 'Bridget Jones'."

Cal scrunches his nose as he remembers Emily dragging him to go see 'Valentine's Day'. "Oh, God stop." He goes to the couch and plops down and gets comfy.

"'Moulin Rouge', ooo 'Steel Magnolias',"

"That's a good one, but no."

Gillian stops torturing him with movie titles, "'As you wish.'"

"There will be _no_ shrieking eels or R.O.U.S.'s in this house."

Gillian's eyes widen in absolute shock. "You know 'The Princess Bride'?"

"Not by choice, I assure you."

"Wow. Cal Lightman knows chick flicks. So which one?" Gillian holds up 'The Wedding Date' and 'Sweet Home Alabama'.

"I don't care, pick one."

"I can't decide that's why I'm asking you."

"So we'll watch 'em both."

"I'll be here til midnight."

"I do have a guest room you know. Besides you can't drive for a while anyways we've almost finished the bottle."

"Fine." Gillian puts in 'The Wedding Date' before sitting down beside Cal. She skips to the menu and presses 'play', Cal fills their glasses, emptying the bottle, and hands her one. He sits back wrapping an arm around Gillian, she leans on him and gets comfy as she thinks of how nice it is that they can be so comfortable around each other. Little does she know he is thinking the very same thing.

About halfway through the movie their glasses are empty and they're still cuddled up, Cal has his feet up on the coffee table, and Gillian has hers tucked beside her and a light throw blanket over her lap and legs.

Cal turns to Gillian with a look of seriousness and concern, "Gill."

"Hmm?" She is still looking at the TV.

"How are you?"

"Feeling pretty good right now, but that's probably just the wine." Gillian laughs as she turns to him. "Why?"

"Nothin'." Cal turns back to the TV.

"Cal." She puts her hand on his cheek and turns him to face her.

"We're supposed to ignore what we see, if we want the other to know we'll say so. Your precious line." He turns to the TV.

"Since when do you concern yourself with the line? And, by the way, I haven't kept anything from you since I told you I was separating from Alec, which is more than I can say for you." Gillian pauses the movie. "So come on, out with it."

Cal stays quite for a moment before facing Gillian. "I want to know how you've been since Claire died." Gillian looks away and takes a deep breath. "I keep thinking about how you're at home all alone going through this. And Em's worried about you, I tell her you're a grown woman and can take care of yourself, that seems to ease her worries, but she cares about you. You're like a second mother to her."

"You don't have to worry about me, it's not your job. You're my best friend, not my husband." Gillian says the last part with a small smile and looks up at Cal just in time to see him swallow. Her face flashes from surprise to confusion. "What was that?"

Cal feigns cluelessness, "What was what?"

"When I said you're not my husband," he swallows again. "Right there. Why the fear, and of what?" She looks closely at his face. "Of being my best friend?" he does nothing, "not being my husband?" he swallows and she smiles nervously. "Seriously? I mean I know a lot of people think we are, but Cal-"

"Just hear me out, Love." Cal sits more so he's facing her and takes her hand. For the first time in their friendship Gillian can see that he's visibly nervous, but completely serious. "Just forget about the line for like 5 minutes, can you do that?" Gillian nods. "Okay, so here goes," Cal takes a deep breath. "Well, like you said, lots of people think we are together, but not many best friend relationships are quite like ours."

"Not many people can read facial expressions either."

"True, but that's not my point. My point is that it hurts me knowing you're all alone," Cal almost begins to ramble as his nerves start to get the best of him, "and I know I'm not really the type of man you go for or deserve, but..." He takes a few deep breaths before looking Gillian straight in the eye, "I sure as hell will try my best." He stays quite as he watches her reactions, fear clearly spread across his face. Gillian is quite as well as she tries to process what was just said, Cal can read the shock in her face.

When Gillian starts to say something, her nervousness makes her voice shaky, "C-Cal you can't be saying what I think you're saying."

"Depends. What do you think I'm saying?"

"You don't like me being alone, and you're not good enough for me, but you want to be?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying..." Cal feels a bit more confident as he goes on. "Gillian, after we got Zach locked up, Em and I were talking and she asked if I loved you. I told her 'yea, of course' but she asked again in terms of being in love with you."

Feeling overwhelmed with emotions but knowing if she didn't answer him he would never admit his feeling again. "What did you tell her?"

"Yes." Cal sees Gillian's breath hitch so he continues. "She asked what I was waiting for, and I was honest and told her I didn't know."

"And now?"

"I've never been so certain about something in my life..." Cal begins smiling. "Gill, you are my best friend, through everything good, bad, and ugly you've been right there beside me. And I would be the happiest man in the world if things stayed that way for the rest of my life..." Gillian is still overwhelmed with emotions as tears start trickling down her face, but she can't help but smile at his words knowing exactly what he's asking. "I'm sorry I don't have a ring," Gillian lets out a small burst of laughter. "We can get one first thing tomorrow, that is if you'll have me..." Cal tries to be casual and ease the tension a bit, "I should warn you though, I do have some baggage, she's 17, but I think you'll like her." Gillian laughs again, and nods. "Is that a 'yes'?"

"'Yes' that I'll like your so called 'baggage', but you haven't asked me yet."

"I didn't think we needed words, but if I haven't even asked what's with the tears?"

"There are two things a woman wants to hear whether she knows it or not."

"Alright." Cal takes a deep breath and takes her hand, "Gillian, love, will you marry me?"

Gillian nods again, the tears have stopped, but her eyes are still watery as she places her hands on either side of Cal's face. "Yes... See? Ask and you shall receive."

Cal has a goofy grin on his face as he slips a hand behind her head, Gillian leans forward and initiates the kiss. It is sweet and slow, but filled with the years of passion they had kept concealed for so long. Lasting only a few minutes, they decided it was time for bed. Feeling no need to finish the movie, they turned the TV off, and headed upstairs hand-in-hand to Cal's bedroom.

Cal went to Emily's room and found a pair of baggy flannel pants, and an over-sized T-shirt for Gillian and she went to the bathroom to change. Once they were both in pajamas they slipped under the covers, arms wrapped around each other, and fell asleep. That night was the best sleep either had gotten in a long time. And the next morning, after a nice big breakfast, they went ring shopping.

◊◊◊END FLASHBACK: PRESENT◊◊◊

Emily spots Cal in the doorway and waves him to come over. He smiles and walks over to Gillian's office, but stands just inside the doorway, hands in his pockets. Gillian is sitting in the middle of the couch and Emily is on the floor using the ottoman as a table to show Gillian the photos from her trip on her laptop.

"So what might you two girls be talking about, eh?"

"Nothing much just showing Gill some pictures I took, and catching up on what I missed while I was gone."

Cal looks at Gillian, eyebrows raised, "Oh yea? Anything juicy?" He steps closer to her.

Emily's brows scrunch up as she becomes suspicious, "What's going on?"

"Nothin'" Cal casually plops down beside Gillian and wraps an arm around her.

"Right... Wait, didn't we just talk about this? No use keeping quite because we tell each other anyway?" Emily closes her laptop. "Spill."

Gillian looks at Cal, "You want to tell your daughter, or shall I?"

"Did you bring... you know?"

"Seriously?" Cal gives her the does-it-look-like-I'm-kidding look, "It's in my purse." Gillian gets up, goes to her desk, and into her purse.

Emily can see she's holding something in her hand, but can't see what it is. Gillian comes back to the couch and sits beside Cal, handing him what was in her hand, Emily still can't see. Gillian holds her left hand palm down towards him. Emily finally sees it, her eyes widen, her jaw drops slightly in surprise and disbelief of this really happening.


	2. Chapter 2

She sees the ring as her dad slips it onto his best friend's finger, delicate, and pale yellow-gold with a cushion pastel-pink diamond, surrounded by tiny white diamonds. Cal and Gillian both look at Emily as they watch her expressions flash from shock to confusion to excitement.

"Hey... Em?" It takes a second but Emily finally snaps out of her thoughts, but her head is still spinning as she turns her focus from the ring to the faces of her father and the woman she thought of as a second mother.

Gillian starts to get worried that this wasn't such a good idea, "I'm sorry Emily, we shouldn't have told you like this-"

"No! I mean yes, you could have done this differently, but I'm glad either way." Emily is all smiles, which makes Gillian relax and smile too. "So... when did this happen?"

Cal starts, "The night you left.-"

"But I've been home for a week, why didn't you tell me then?"

"You going to let me finish?" Emily calms down. "You left me with that dinner idea so I invited Gill over, we watched a movie, sort of, and it just happened."

"Your dad asked how I was holding up, and how he kept think about me dealing with Claire's death on my own, and it sort of came out that I wouldn't be alone if we were together." Gillian looks at Cal and Emily can see the love on both their faces.

"So this has nothing to do with the fact that you two have been in love with each other for years, right? Just making sure Gill isn't lonely?" Emily says with a smug grin.

"Oi! Enough of your lip." Gillian gently swats him, a sweet smile on her face.

"So, Em, you're okay with this? Your dad I getting married?"

"Are you kidding?" Emily gets up off the floor and sits on the couch beside Gillian, and wraps her arms around her. "It's about time you two got together." Cal moves his arm so Emily and Gillian can hug each other, placing his hand on Emily's shoulder as they lean closer. "I love you guys."

Gillian's eyes start to water a bit. "I love you too, Em."

"This is going to be amazing."

The trio sit there for a moment longer, before Ria and Eli walk by and see them cuddled up on the couch. They are surprised, and walk away quickly, but Cal still saw them.

"The cat's comin' out the bag sooner than we thought."

Gillian looks up and follows his gaze out her office door, but sees nothing. "What do you..." realization hits her, "Loker and Torres."

"Yep."

They all release their embraces and stand up.

Cal says to Emily, "You, stay here." She tries to protest, but Cal gives her the look 'I'm serious' and she sits back down.

Cal takes Gillian by the hand and pulls her out of the office. Emily watches with a smile as they leave hand-in-hand.

Anna has just walked out of the lab. Inside, Ria and Eli are talking quietly about what they just saw, but separate quickly once the lab door opens. Cal reads the nervousness in both their faces, but they try to hide it as he and Gillian approach them.

"Dr. Foster."

"Lightman." Ria notices the hand holding, but doesn't say anything. "What's up?"

"Don't play dumb."

"Cal." Gillian says with a slight warning tone.

He looks at her. "Right." Looking back at Ria and Eli, "Gather everyone in the conference room, Mum and Dad have an announcement." No one moves, "Today would be nice." Ria and Eli hurriedly get up and leave the lab.

About 10 minutes later everyone is gathered in the conference room whispering and trying to figure out what's going on. Cal and Gillian walk in and the room goes silent. Cal stands at the end of the table, Gillian stands back about arm's length, holding her hands, right over left to cover the ring.

"So I guess you're all wondering why I called you in here, probably came up with a few explanations..."

Gillian steps forward to stand beside Cal. "We called this meeting because Dr. Lightman and I have an announcement."

Ria and Eli have been standing by the door, Eli leans in towards Ria's ear, "Here it comes." Ria 'shhh's him.

Cal says just above a whisper, "Why you dragging this out? Just do it quick, like a band-aid."

Gillian begins to get a bit nervous, "This isn't something you just blurt out."

Cal rolls his eyes, grabs Gillian's left wrist and holds her hand up, showing the ring. Gillian's eyes go wide, gasps are heard, Ria and Eli are completely frozen. "Foster and I are getting married."

Ria and Eli are speechless, they turn to Anna who is less surprised and has a smile. She looks back at them and signs and mouths, 'Thank You', before turning back to Cal and Gillian.

"Questions, comments, or concerns?... No. Good. Dismissed." Cal spots Ria and Eli, and points right at them, "You two in my office, now." Gillian and Cal leave the conference room, and head towards his office.

Everyone starts to slowly disperse.

Once in Cal's office they find Emily in the library.

"Em."

Emily walks out. "Yea?"

Cal reaches in his pocket and starts counting out some money, "Do me a favor, go get stuff for dinner." He hands the money to Emily.

"What are we making?"

"Whatever. Something good, alright?"

"Okay." Cal leans in and gives her a quick kiss. "Is Gill coming?"

"Absolutely. Would be rude not to invite my wife-to-be." Cal give Gillian a cheeky grin, she smiles back.

"Okay, I'll see you guys later then." She gives them both a hug, and walks out smiling.

"I like the sound of that, 'Wife-to-be'." Cal steps closer to Gillian.

"So do I, but 'Husband-to-be' doesn't really have the same ring to it."

Eli and Ria walk in with sheepish looks, Cal's expression changes as he turns his attention to them. "You're busted. Think you can hide from Mum and Dad? Think again." He gets within a few feet of them, staring them down.

"Cal, come on. How many times are you going to get after them?"

To Gillian, "As many as I have to." Back to Loker and Torres, "I saw the two of you scurry off, saw the exchange with Anna in the conference room. You guys bet on what the announcement was about."

Gillian walks towards them, with a look of disappointment as she looks right at them. "Hold on a minute. You guys where betting?"

Ria and Eli stay quiet. "Silence is code for 'yes'. But neither of you won."

Gillian now a bit confused. "So what does Anna have to do with this?"

Just then Anna walks in, head down, with a file. "Sorry to bother you, Dr. Lightman, I just-", see looks up and sees who all is in the room.

"Anna, perfect timing. We were just talking about you."

Anna a bit worried. "Me? Why what's going on?"

Gillian fills in. "Lightman figured out that Loker and Torres were betting, and saw some exchange between you three."

"I wasn't betting."

"Oh I know. I'd just like to know what your part was." Cal reassures her.

"Ria bet that you and Dr. Foster started dating, and Eli bet that you two slept together. They didn't want the chance of someone cheating so I held the money."

"So seeing as they were both wrong, who got the money?"

"I did. They said I could keep it if they lost."

Cal gives Anna a proud smile. "Very good. So what did you need?"

Anna relaxes and returns an appreciative smile, "Your signature."

Cal goes to her and signs. Anna leaves.

"Now, you two. Betting was not a smart move, you do recall Foster saving Jimmy the Mouth's bacon not too long ago, yea?" Loker and Torres nod. "Good. So you've learned your lesson, and it's not gonna happen again?" They nod again. "Alright, hop it."

"So we're not in trouble?"

Cal gets up in Eli's face, "Why? You want to be?"

"No."

"Then go." Eli and Ria quickly leave the office, closing the door behind them.

Gillian stands there with a smile. "I'm proud of you."

"Oh, yea?" Cal gets closer to her.

"Mhmm. You weren't as hard as I expected you to be on them."

"Maybe I just don't want their stupidity to ruin my mood." Cal goes to sit on the couch.

"And what mood would that be?" Gillian goes to sit beside him.

" Feeling like I'm on 'Top of the World'."

"Since when do you use cliches?"

"Since you and I began to embody a couple of them."

"What, 'opposites attract'?"

"That and 'Good Girl'," points to Gillian, then himself, "'Bad Boy'."

"True, but you don't believe I'm a 'Good Girl'."

"On the contrary, I think you're a very good girl who is capable of some very bad things."

"In your dreams."

"They're not stayin' there for long."

They share a short, sweet kiss.

During the next few weeks, the upcoming wedding was the number one topic in the office and at home. While Cal tried to stay out of it as much as possible, he found himself sucked in at least a few times a day. One night while Cal and Gillian were talking about ideas for the wedding, they were going back and forth about what they liked and didn't like, both from preference and experience. Gillian mentioned how she hated the big, fancy wedding she and Alec had, and would have preferred a simple one. Cal agreed and said that he'd leave the planning entirely up to her. With that, Gillian, Emily, and Ria ran with the freedom, and his dinning room became 'Wedding Central', magazines, planners, checklists, anything and everything. The guest list was made, they were keeping it very small and intimate, just like Gillian wanted. They had called and told Ben the news shortly after announcing it to their staff, he was thrilled for them, and said to keep him updated and let him know if he could help. About 3 weeks after their announcement and the planning began, they were going over things and realized just how small their guest list was, they decided against a wedding party but still wanted to include Emily since they were becoming a family, they were stumped for a while. A few days later Ben called Cal to see how things were going. Gillian was sitting at the dinning table with her laptop going over lists, invitation samples, and looking at dress ideas. Cal was in the kitchen and on the phone with Ben while fixing coffee, he joined Gillian at the table and put the phone on speaker.

"Ben, you're on speaker. Gillian wanted to say 'hi'."

"Hi, Ben."

"Hey, Gillian. How are things going with Lightman?"

"Oh, you know, saving his butt, keeping him in check," Ben can be heard laughing on the other end of the line, "making sure the company stays afloat, nothing unusual."

"Oi. I resent that comment."

"Get used to it, you'll have my comments at work and at home once it's official." Gillian wiggles her fingers to show off her engagement ring.

"Why do we have to wait til we're married to live together? You've been here all but what, 4 nights in the past 2 weeks?"

Ben clears his throat. Gillian turns her attention back to the phone. "Sorry Ben, so what were you and Cal talking about?"

"We were just discussing some key things in you two's upcoming nuptials, 'Who's giving you away?', 'Do you have a church or priest?', that sort of thing."

"Well, we decided that since we have such a small guest list that we won't book a church, so we are still without an officiate."

"But we're becoming a family, so of course we want Emily to be a part of it, so Gill's walking herself, and get this, Em's going to be giving _me_ away."

"I can't wait to see that."

"Just for that, you're uninvited."

"Hey. I was going to help you out, but now I might reconsider my offer."

"Cal." Cal looks at Gillian like, 'what did I do?'. She shakes her head. Cal plops into a chair, grabs a wedding magazine and starts flipping through it. "Don't listen to him, Ben, I would like to hear about this offer."

"Thank you, Gillian. I was going to say that while I've been recovering doing desk work, I looked into becoming an ordained minister. Before you say anything, it was a slow couple of weeks, and I wasn't medically cleared for my usual hobbies. Anyway, I did go through with getting ordained, and I now posses the certification and credentials to perform marriages."

"That's fantastic, Ben. Congratulations."

"Is that your way of saying you want to marry us?"

"No, I'm saying I could if you two wanted me to. It could be a wedding gift from me."

"I smell cheap!"

"Cal." Gillian gives Cal an incredulous look. "That would amazing, Ben. Would you?"

"It would be my pleasure, Gillian. Is your future husband as keen about it as you?"

Gillian turns to Cal. "Cal." Cal turns to look at her, eyebrows raised in question. "Are you okay with Ben being the officiant at our wedding?"

Cal scrunches his face as if thinking really hard about it.

"Well?"

"Don't rush me."

"Seriously?" Cal stays quiet with the same look. "Cal."

"Right." Cal leans on the table, engaging more in the conversation. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yea, why not? He's already invited, and we won't have to pay him."

"Hey." Ben from the phone.

"You said it was your gift, you don't pay for your own gift."

"So it's settled then? Ben's going to marry us."

Ben and Cal say in unison, "Yes."

Now with their guest list made, and Ben as the officiant, they could move on to the next big piece of planning: the dress.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple weeks later, around 2 in the afternoon, Gillian walked into Cal's office, purse and jacket in hand. She smiles when she finds him at the computer wearing his glasses. She never could pinpoint what it was about him in those glasses that she loved.

"Hey, you."

Cal looks up. "Hello, love." Noticing the coat and purse, "Where you off to?"

"I thought I'd go surprise Emily after school. Pick her up, get some lunch, then see about doing a little dress shopping."

"So you thought you'd come check with your boss that you can take the rest of the afternoon off?... I guess I'll let you."

Gillian walks closer to Cal. "I wasn't asking for your permission, I was telling you. And, besides, you're not my boss, you're my partner." Cal turns his chair as she sits on the edge of his desk.

Cal picks up her left hand and looks at the ring. "I guess this means we need to add your name on our letter head." He fakes realization, "Oh wait, it's already there."

"Haha, very funny."

"Hmm. So you gonna tell me where you're going so I can meet you after work?"

"Oh, no. You are not seeing my dress."

"Gill, it's a second wedding, those dumb superstitions don't apply anymore."

"I don't care, you're not going to see it."

"Do I have a say at all?"

"Nope. Well, maybe. Depends on what you have to say."

"So like what I want to see you in, right?"

Gillian nods.

"Perhaps something a bit form-fitting, like those dresses and skirts you love to wear. Nothing crazy. I think simple and with a bit of class."

"Classy?" Gillian gets up with a knowing smile, recalling those words from their visit to an adult film office where they posed as a married couple interested in their own movie.

"Yep. So you got it?"

"Yes. Something form-fitting, simple, classy, and nothing crazy." She leans in and gives Cal a kiss. "See you later." Gillian leaves.

About 15 minutes later, Gillian was parked just outside one of the gates at Emily's school. She pulls out her phone and texts Emily, 'Hey Em, I thought you and I could get some lunch and go dress shopping this afternoon. What do you think?'

The bell rings, and Emily replies, 'I think 'YES'! :D What time are we going?'

'How about now? :)'. Seconds later, Gillian's phone rings, 'Emily', she smiles and answers. "Hello, Emily."

"Hey Gillian, that plan sounds awesome. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Outside the auditorium seems pretty good."

"You're here?!"

"Yep. I thought I'd surprise you."

"Consider me surprised. I'll be there in a couple minutes."

"Okay. Think about what you'd like for lunch. I had a pudding cup to try and hold me over, didn't help at all."

Emily laughs, "Okay, see you in a minute. Bye."

"Bye" Gillian hangs up as she watches the flood of teenagers leave school. She reaches into the glove compartment for the cassette adapter. Gillian learned from driving around with Cal and Emily, that Emily liked to play her music from her iPod in the car so Gillian bought the adapter for when Emily was in her car. There was a light knock on her passenger window, she looked up and saw Emily, and unlocked the door.

Emily gets in, and buckles up, "Hey, Gill."

"Hey, Em. Look what I got." Gillian hands Emily the adapter.

"You got one?"

"Yep. So now you can play DJ in my car too." Gillian starts the car, and Emily puts the adapter in and attaches her iPod, as Gillian pulls away.

"Okay, what should we listen to?"

"I'm not too picky so pick whatever you want. Did you decide on lunch?"

"How about Italian?" Emily can't decide so she puts her iPod on shuffle and puts the iPod in a cup holder.

"Sounds good to me."

The music starts playing, 'S&M' by Rihanna, Emily reaches for the iPod to change it. "Sorry I just put it on shuffle."

"Don't worry about it, I like this song."

"You know this song?"

"I've heard it a few times on the radio." Emily looks at Gillian in bewilderment. "Feels so good being bad...There's no way I'm turning back." Gillian stops until the chorus starts. She sees the look on Emily's face like she doesn't know what to think. Gillian gets a bit more into the song and begins singing along through the whole song.

_Oh, I love the feeling you bring to me, oh, you turn me on_

_It's exactly what I've been yearning for, give it to me strong_

_And meet me in my boudoir, make my body say ah ah ah_

_I like it-like it_

Gillian pulls into the parking lot of the resturaunt, once parked she leaves the car on and continues to sing until the song is over.

_Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it_

_Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it_

_Sticks and stones may break my bones_

_But chains and whips excite me_

_Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it_

_Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it_

_Sticks and stones may break my bones_

_But chains and whips excite me_

_Na na na_

_Come on, come on, come on_

_I like it-like it_

_Come on, come on, come on_

_I like it-like it (Na na na)_

_Come on, come on, come on_

_I like it-like it_

_Come on, come on, come on_

_I like it-like it_

Once it's over, Gillian turns off the car, unbuckles and grabs her purse nonchalantly like nothing happened. Emily sits there in shock. "You coming, or am I eating alone?"

Emily looks at Gillian confused. "I thought you just heard that song a few times, but you know all the words."

"It's catchy."

Emily unbuckles, "I never thought you were the type of person to not just have heard songs about sex, but actually know them."

Gillian looks a bit offended, "Hey, I'm only 40, I'm not _that_ old."

"Well, no, but this is what my generation, and people maybe 10 years older, listen to."

"Well, I like to mix it up once in a while and try a new station."

"Okay."

"Okay. Can we go eat now?"

"Yes... but don't think you're getting out of telling me about what other songs you know."

Gillian rolls her eyes and she and Emily get out of the car.

After lunch they headed to a bridal store Gillian had found a few days earlier.

While Gillian was in the dressing room changing, Emily sat outside waiting. "How's it going in there?"

"This one is way better than the last."

Emily laughs, "The princess look was bad."

A zipper can be heard. "Oh, now I like this one... And, I'm pretty sure it meets all of your dad's requirements, and then some."

"Dad has requirements?"

"Just a few. Nothing I would disagree with, thankfully."

"What did your first wedding dress look like?"

"Well, it didn't have quite as full of a skirt as that awful princess gown, um, it had sleeves, but it was off the shoulder, and it had a lot of bead work and a train." Gillian walks out, laughing as she pictures her previous wedding dress. Emily has a look of 'aww' as she sees Gillian in the dress. It's full-length, all lace, slightly off-white, with a Queen Ann neckline, and an open back that comes up to her natural waist. Gillian sees Emily's face and becomes concerned, "Emily are you okay?"

Emily snaps out of her thoughts, "Yea, it's just... you look beautiful, Gillian."

Gillian begins smiling nervously as she starts blushing, "Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you. Do you think your dad will like it?"

"He's going to love it."

"Good. I just hope I can get the back altered to be a little higher."

"Why? You can pull it off easy." Emily goes to stand beside Gillian as she looks at the back of the dress in the mirror.

"I appreciate that, but I'm not 20-something anymore. I think the raised back would be more age appropriate."

"So is this the one?"

"Yea, this is the one." Gillian smiles as she thinks 'After all these years of hiding our feelings, this is what I'm going to wear when I finally marry Cal.' Gillian turns her attention to Emily, "So let me just get out of this and we can start looking for yours."

"Actually, I already started looking. I couldn't help it, they looked so inviting."

"Don't even worry about it, I did that same thing for my sister's wedding. She went in with like 5 dresses, and she's the type that has to nearly love it before anyone can see it. I'd wander off for about 10 minutes at a time to look at dresses and be back before she came out. Then when it was our turn, I had about 3 dresses already picked out."

"Okay, I'll go get them while you change then." Emily walks off, as Gillian goes back to the dressing room. A few minutes later, Emily comes back with a few dresses she liked, just as Gillian walks out dressed in her normal clothes. "My turn." Gillian goes to sit and wait for Emily.

When Emily comes out in the first dress, Gillian is talking to the sales woman. She looks up and sees the semi-scrunched look on Emily's face, "You don't like it."

Emily shakes her head. "It looked better on the hanger... Next?"

"Next." Emily goes to try the next dress, and Gillian continues talking to the woman.

Shortly after, Emily walks out in another dress, all smiles. Gillian has just finished with the sales woman who walks away, Gillian turns to look at Emily. "What do you think?"

"I like it, but you're the who's wearing it. What do you think about it?"

"I really like it. What color is it going to be?"

"Your pick of the wedding colors, pale rose pink, lavender, or peach."

"Pastels? Have you told Dad?"

"Nope. He said the planning was up to me, that if I liked something then he would too."

"Nice." Emily looks at her dress in the mirror. "I think I'd like it in lavender."

"I think lavender will be really pretty."

"Then, lavender it is."

Emily changed back into her normal clothes, and they ordered their dresses before heading home. It was around dinner time so they called Cal to let him know they would pick something up for dinner.

That night, they ate dinner in the living room and watched movies, before they knew it, it was nearing 11pm so Gillian stayed at Cal's insistence. While Gillian took a shower, Emily went to bed, and Cal went to her room.

Cal knocked on Emily's door. "Come in."

Cal entered. "Hey, Em."

"Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Nothin'. Just thought I'd come say 'Good night' to my daughter." He goes and sits beside Emily on her bed.

Emily senses something's up. "What are you up to?"

"Why do I gotta be up to somethin'?"

"Because usually you are. You're not as hard to figure out as you think."

"I suppose that's the me in you. Alright, come on. Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"What do you think? Gill's dress of course."

"Nice try. I'll never tell." Emily gives Cal a kiss on the cheek before snuggling in bed. "Good night, Dad... Can you turn the light off, please. Thank you."

Cal sits there like 'what just happened' before shaking his head and getting up. He turns the light off and closes the door while he walks out.

The following weekend, Cal went to get to get a new suit, and Gillian recruited Ben to come along with him.

The salesman put Cal into a grey suit, both Ben and the salesman said it looked good, but Cal wouldn't have it. After a near argument about not wearing anything but black, the salesman gave in and got Cal a black suit. Once Cal was in it he relaxed, and the man started taking Cal's measurements.

When the tape measure came out Cal got worried, "Whoa. What you doing?"

"Lightman, relax. He's just taking your measurements for when you order your suit."

"I gotta order this thing? Why can't I can't just find one that fits and go?"

"It's your wedding, Gillian wanted you to get a custom fit suit."

"Oh, so I can't even help pick her dress, but she can pick out my suit?"

"Hey, I'm just doing what she asked me. And, if I recall correctly, you did tell her that she could plan the whole wedding. Whatever she liked, you'd like it too."

"I coulda swore I left Em at home, guess I was wrong 'cause you sound just like her."

"Laugh now Lightman, but just remember who you wedding officiate is, I could forget something and your marriage could not be official."

Cal glares at Ben, but he doesn't flinch, "You wouldn't do that to Gillian, no matter how pissed you are at me."

"Just get your suit like she asked."

Cal stands a bit straighter with a proud grin on his face.

As the wedding planning continued, they figured out where each part of the wedding was taking place. They would move the couch and two chairs from the living room to the backyard for extra seating, the rest of the living room furniture into the guest bedroom, and the ceremony could be held in the living room. They decided to rent chairs to set up for seating during the ceremony, and use them and the dinning room chairs outside under the EZ-Ups for the reception. The dinning table was going outside, and they rented a couple 6ft tables for guest seating, and a round one for gifts. They decided to keep the cake on the island in the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

It's late July, the weather is warm and sunny, the perfect summer's day for Gillian and Cal's wedding. The girls had taken over Cal's house, and kicked him out to Ben's place. Their excuse for kicking him out of his own house was that they were going to put the finishing touches on all the decor. After Gillian had a private chat with Cal, he gave in, gave his bride-to-be, and daughter a kiss goodbye, and left them and Ria at his house.

The next morning at Ben's house, Ben woke up about 9am to a knock at his front door, and the sound of breakfast being made. Ben let Loker in and they walked into the kitchen to find Cal at the stove fixing himself a plate. "Lightman."

Cal looks at Ben and Loker, "Morning. I made plenty of food, so have at it." Ben and Loker make their way to get breakfast, as Cal fixes a cup of coffee and sits at the table to eat.

"How come you're up so early?" Ben inquires.

"Couldn't sleep." Cal says with a mouth full.

Loker pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Cold feet?"

"Do you like your job, Loker?"

"Yea. I mean after you started paying me again, of course."

"Well, if you don't want to become an unpaid intern _again_, I suggest you zip it."

"Point taken."

A couple hours later at the Lightman house, Gillian and Emily are in the kitchen eating brunch. Ria walks in from the dinning room with a pro-looking digital camera in hand.

"Well, I got a nice bunch of pre-wedding photos, and the flowers are still attached to the sashes so I guess the hot glue worked."

"I knew it would." Gillian sits at the island with a cup of coffee. "So everything's ready now? Eli has everything taken care of outside, right?"

"Yep, he's gonna run out before everyone gets outside and setup the music, and Reynolds is going to slip out and take care of the candles on the tables while we stay in here for pictures." Ria sets the camera on the counter.

Emily wraps an arm around Gillian for comfort, "Breathe, Gill. It's going to amazing, don't worry."

Gillian's nerves come out in her voice, "I'm not worried."

"Hmm, guess I must have misheard the raised pitch in your voice." Ria says with a sly smile as she sips her coffee.

Gillian sighs loudly. "I'm not worried. It's just... I guess I just don't quite believe this is all really happening. Like it's a dream or fantasy, not reality."

"Do you need me to pinch you?"

Gillian lets out a small giggle, "No, I'm okay, thank you."

Ria gets a serious look as she asks the following with caution, "Foster, can I ask you something... personal?"

"Sure." Gillian notes Ria's expression.

"What made you decide to completely skip the whole dating thing and jump right into marriage with Lightman? You've never seemed like the type to make such a huge decision without being sure it's the right one."

"Well, when you know each other the way Cal and I do, and in addition to our friendship, our line of work allows us to see everything but the why, so when it come to things like this there's not a whole lot that you don't already know about the other."

"But I thought that the closer you are to someone, the harder it is to read them." Emily is a bit confused.

"That's true, but it mainly applies to when you're trying to see a lie or believe one." Gillian stops to take a drink of coffee and sees the time on the microwave '12:27', "Besides, I suppose Cal and I both realized our feelings weren't going anywhere, and now that we're both divorced, there's nothing stoping us so why prolong something we know is certain to happen eventually. And, I was supposed to be in the shower half and hour ago." Standing, she puts her cup in the sink.

"Whoops" Emily giggles. "You go, we can clean this up, right?" She looks at Ria.

Ria nods. "Sure."

"Okay. I'll try not to be too long." Gillian heads up the stairs to shower.

Ria looks at Emily. "Do you need to get in the shower too before you get ready?"

"Yea, but I'm quick." Emily starts washing the dishes.

"Go take your shower. I got this covered." Ria nudges Emily out of the kitchen.

"You sure?"

"Yes, go."

Emily smiles and heads upstairs. She comes down a minute later and Ria's washing dishes.

"I thought you were taking a shower."

"I am, but Gill's in Dad's bathroom so I'm gonna shower in the one down here." Emily slowly walks backwards down the hall with a sly grin. "You've seen it, remember?" Emily walks away, as Ria shakes her head continues to clean the kitchen.

About and hour later, Gillian is just about done blow drying her hair, Emily walks in Cal's room and finds her standing in the bathroom in a short, white, silk robe. Gillian didn't hear Emily come in over the blow dryer, so when she sees Emily in the doorway she jumps. She turns the blow dryer off and faces Emily. "Emily, you scared me."

"Sorry, just thought I'd come see if you were ready."

Gillian brushes her hair so it's smooth. "Yep, just need to plug in the curling iron and it should be ready in a few minutes. Should we do your hair?"

"Sure, where do you want me?"

"I think if you sit on the bench at the foot of the bed, and I sit on the bed, it should work. Where's Ria?" Emily has her brush, and Gillian grabs the cup of bobby pins and a few hair ties. They go into the bedroom and sit.

"She forgot her earrings so she left to go get them. She said she'll be back in about 15 minutes." Emily sits with her back to Gillian, and she starts parting Emily's hair.

Ria walks in about 10 minutes later. "I'm back."

Emily calls from upstairs, "We're up here."

Ria walks upstairs and goes to Cal's room. Gillian is putting the diamond and rosette hair pin in Emily's hair as she enters. "Wow, that looks really pretty, Emily."

"Really? I haven't seen it yet?"

"You can now. Tell me what you think." Emily gets up and goes to look in the bathroom mirror.

"I didn't know you could french-braid, Gillian."

"I used to french-braid my hair all the time when I was younger. Do you like it?"

"I love it." Emily gives Gillian a hug. "Thank you. Your turn." Emily grabs Gillian's hand and pulls her into the bathroom. "What are we doing to your hair?"

"Well, I found this picture," Gillian goes back to the bedroom and opens her laptop, after a few clicks the picture pops up. "I thought it was nice, and it doesn't look like it'll be too difficult to do." Emily and Ria come to look at the picture.

"Not at all. I think if you use the iron to get the shape around your face, and we can make soft curls in the back and pin them up."

"Okay, let's do it." Gillian gets up and goes to the bathroom with Ria in tow.

"Do you have something to put in your hair?"

"I bought a hair pin with silk roses. I thought they would be nice on the side."

Its just after 4pm, Cal, Ben, and Loker walk into the house and run into Ria.

"Oi. Torres, where's my girls?"

"Upstairs-" Cal tries to get passed her, but Ben holds him back.

"Lightman, you have to wait to see Gillian just like the rest of us."

"If you still worked for me I'd fire you."

"Well, then it's a good thing I don't. Come on." Ben leads Cal to the living room, Loker starts to follow, but Ria stops him.

"Loker can you do something for me?"

"Sure."

"Can you hang around the front door in case people start showing up? Just tell them to go to the living room and get comfortable, I'll be down in in a few minutes."

"Okay." Ria starts heading back upstairs. "You look nice, by the way."

"Thanks, so do you." Ria smiles before continuing upstairs, Loker goes to the front door.

Once in the living room, Ben gets ready.

"I'm gonna pop outside for a minute." Cal slips out the back door before Ben can stop him. Cal walks around so he's out of Ben's sight, pulls out his phone and dials Gillian.

In Cal's room, Gillian is standing in front of the full-length mirror putting her earrings in as Emily, already dressed, buttons the top of Gillian's dress. Gillian's cellphone rings, she reaches for it on the nightstand. She smiles as she sees the caller ID. "Let me guess, you thought since you can't see me, you'd try calling instead?"

"Well, that's a fine 'how do you do?'" Gillian is quiet, and Cal gets worried. "Gillian, love, you alright?"

"I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Absolutely. I mean I'd be better if I could see you."

"Well, according to your daughter, it'll be worth the wait."

"If it has to do with you, it is."

Ria walks in and stops in her tracks. Emily turns and sees Ria slowly take a few pictures. A couple of Gillian and Emily, a couple more of just Gillian: reflection in mirror, facing Gillian, etc.

"I should go."

"No, not yet."

"The ceremony starts in about 5 minutes, I think you'll survive."

"I'll have to if I want to finally see your dress."

"Is that all?"

"Well, that and you know get married." Cal says nonchalantly.

"Bye, Cal."

"Bye, love. Remember, I'm the one waiting at the alter." They hang up. Cal walks back into the living room with a big grin on his face.

Emily says to Ria, "What do you think?"

"Lightman has no idea how lucky he is."

"He's about to. Are we ready, Gill?"

"More than ready." Emily locks an arm with Gillian as they walk down the hall. When they get to the stairs, Ria goes first and Emily walks behind Gillian. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Ria snaps a few more photos before Emily leaves to take her place beside Cal. Gillian starts taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"I don't think I've ever been more nervous and excited at the same time in my life."

"There's a first time for everything, even if it takes a couple tries it's worth it in the end." Ria gives Gillian a hug before going to the living room with everyone else.

The music starts, 'One and Only' by Adele. As she listens to the words she remembers Emily insisting that this was the perfect song for her dad and Gillian.

_You've been on my mind, I grow fonder every day_

_Lose myself in time just thinking of your face_

_God only knows why it's taken me so long to let my doubts go_

_You're the only one that I want_

_I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before_

_Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all_

_You'll never know if you never try_

_To forget your past and simply be mine_

After a couple more deep breaths, Gillian makes her way from the kitchen, through the dinning room and towards the living room through the french doors.

_I dare you to let me be your, your one and only_

Cal looks up as everyone stands to watch Gillian enter.

_Promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms_

_So come on and give me a chance_

_To prove I am the one who can walk that mile_

_Until the end_

Ria takes a few photos of Cal's reaction to seeing Gillian, his face completely lights up, and she turns to take a few of Gillian walking down the aisle. Eli faded the song out before it said 'starts', they decided to cut that out for fear of implying the marriage wouldn't last. Gillian gets to the front and stands to face Cal, who has Emily linked to his arm. Ben takes a breath before starting.

"Friends, we come together today to witness the long-awaited union of Cal and Gillian." Everyone claps lightly and a few small chuckles can be heard. "Who gives this man to this woman?"

"I do." Emily says with a huge smile. She turns to Cal and gives him a tight hug, then turns and gives Gillian a tight hug as well before taking her seat in the front.

Ben turns to Cal. "Cal, do you take Gillian to be your wife? To love, honor, cherish, and stay true to for as long as you live?"

"I absolutely do."

Ben turns to Gillian. "Gillian, do you take Cal to be your husband? To love, honor, cherish, and stay true to for as long as you live?"

"I do."

"Please face each other and join hands." Gillian hands Emily her bouquet, and joins hands with Cal. "At this time, the bride and groom have chosen to read their own vows."

Cal reaches in his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper and chuckles at himself. "I just knew if I didn't write it down I'd forget things." Cal flicks his gaze between the paper and Gillian as he speaks. "Gillian, from the time I met you there was something about you that just drew me in. I admit those first couple meetings were a tad rough, but I couldn't stay away. I thought you were going bonkers when you agreed to be my partner, but I was very relieved nonetheless. You're the only person to truly make me fear that I'd, one day, push too far and you'd leave, but you never have. You have stayed by my side all these years, and I'd like you to continue to stay by my side for the rest of my life. Let this ring be a reminder of my vow and promise to you." Cal slips the wedding ring on Gillian's finger.

Gillian's eyes are beginning to water, but after a deep breath, she keeps the tears from starting. "Cal, while you know how to drive me out of my mind on, nearly, a daily basis, I wouldn't have turned down that opportunity of a lifetime in a million years. You're not the easiest man to work with, but at the end of the day you manage to make it up somehow. As my best friend, you have always been there for me. No matter how bad a fight we have, or how long we're mad at each other, you're always there for me. And, I'd like us to continue to be there for each other for the rest of our lives. Let this ring be a symbol of our vows and promises to each other." Gillian slips the wedding band on Cal's finger.

"It is my great honor to pronounce you two as man and wife. You may kiss your bride." Everyone cheers and claps.

Cal and Gillian are still holding hands, Cal slips one hand to the small of Gillian's back, and Gillian places her free hand on the side of Cal's face. They close the space between them and share their first kiss as husband and wife, it's slow and sweet.

About 30 minutes later everyone is in the backyard enjoying the music when Cal, Gillian, Emily, and Ria walk out of the house after taking a ton of photos. Cal and Gillian take their seats that have personalized signs on the back that say 'Cal's Wife' and 'Gillian's Husband'.

Later in the night they have their first dance, 'Save Your Love For Me' by Cannonball Adderley & Nancy Wilson.

"So tell me how it feels to be stuck with me for the rest of your life, Mrs. Lightman."

"Feels like a dream that was well worth the wait. How do you feel being stuck with me?"

"What kinda question is that, Mrs. Lightman? Do you not recall that rebound case?"

"I do. But I also recall telling you that you might not have tried hard enough."

"Well, I did finally try, and now I'm happily married to you, Mrs. Lightman."

"Are you going to call me 'Mrs. Lightman' all night?"

"Why? Don't you like it, Mrs. Lightman?"

"No, I like it. I'm just beginning to miss some other names."

"Okay, love." Gillian smiles, he smiles back, and they finish the song dancing cheek to cheek.

Cal and Gillian cut their cake about an hour later, there was no smashing cake in each others face, but that didn't stop Cal from "accidently" getting icing on Gillian's neck. While cake was served, Ria and Anna came over to talk to Gillian.

"Congratulations, Dr. Foster. No, Dr. Lightman. Sorry."

"Thank you, Anna. I think we'll stick with Foster at the office so there's no confusion."

"Of course." Anna smiles while Ria takes a seat beside Gillian.

"So Foster, what are you two doing for your honeymoon?" Ria has a devious smile.

"Not what you're thinking."

"At all?!"

"Ria that is not something you talk about at your reception."

"Okay, not details, but are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. We're leaving in the morning to Virginia Beach, going to stay in an oceanfront hotel, and spend a few days on the beach."

"Why just a few days?"

"Emily has to be back to catch a flight to her mom's on Friday."

"Emily's going with you?"

"We're going to think of it like a trip together as a new family, but Emily's going to have her own room. And, the plan was to head back Thursday, detour to Busch Gardens and do rides all day, spend the night, and drive home Friday, but Zoe booked Em a morning flight so we're going to drive straight home Thursday afternoon."

"That still sounds like it's going to be a fun trip."

"Yea, I'm sure Cal and I will probably think of something to do over the weekend, just the two of us."

"Zoe knows about you and Lightman, right?"

"Absolutely. She wasn't thrilled, of course, but she accepts our marriage. We haven't discussed the legal part of my becoming Emily's stepmother, but that's a discussion I am prepared to wait for."

Cal walks over with two glasses of champagne, and hands one to Gillian.

The party ended at about 11pm, and Ria offered for Emily to stay the night with her, giving the newlyweds their wedding night alone. Ria did as promised and Emily was home at 8:30 the next morning, and by 9 o'clock they left on their trip. Loker and Ben showed up just after 9 and met Ria at the Lightman house to clean up.

As they pulled out of their driveway they saw the house as a symbol of a fantasy they didn't think would come true; Cal and Gillian are husband and wife, and this is their home. They knew marriage wasn't going to be easy, but they knew that if they stuck together, and loved each other, they could make it... And, if the rest of their lives was anything like that first night, it would be well worth the effort.


End file.
